Shut up, Kiba
by The Pirate on Wheels
Summary: Team 10 discuss their experiences with their furry obsessed team mate. Kiba gets hurt.


Shut Up, Kiba

Team 10 discuss their experiences with their furry obsessed team mate. Kiba gets hurt.

* * *

><p>"Left side….all clear. Right….clear!" Extending her byakugan to the outer edges of the training field, Hinata scanned the entirety of Team 10's training field, before flickering to the meeting point.<p>

After landing, she glanced around unsurely. "U-um, why are you two hiding from me?" she asked, as Shino morphed up from the ground, and Kurenai stepped out of a tree that shimmered like a rippling pond as she moved through it.

"Oh, well hello Hinata. I was testing your tracking abilities. You did a good job finding me, but-"

Shino cut her off. "Kurenai sensei, it's okay. Why? Because she was using her bloodline limit to scan for him as well."

"N-no I, I was just looking for…for…not Kiba?" Hinata offered.

"You don't have to hide it anymore." Kurenai said flatly. "Anyone could see that we're all avoiding Kiba."

"Yes. There is no need to hide what is obvious." Shino stated. "Why? Because you cannot hide what is already in sight."

"Kurenai sensei is… and, e-even you, Shino?" Hinata asked with surprise.

"Why would you assume me to be impervious, Hinata?" Shino queried.

"I just, I didn't think you minded him. You always seemed so…detached."

* * *

><p>Kiba and Shino were standing in the training field, alone, waiting for Kurenai and Hinata to join them for the days' mission.<p>

"Hey Shino." Kiba yelled. Failing to get Shino's attention, and moreover, failing to notice his failure, he continued. "We should talk about something."

Without a response, he went on.

"Oh, I know! Guess what?"

"I am not going to guess. Why? This is because your answer is always the same, and I do not need to guess at what I am certain of. No. You will invariably tell me that you like d-"

"I like dogs."

"…"

"I mean, I have a dog, Akamaru. You know him. I bet you didn't know I took him to the park yesterday though. We grew up together, so we like to play outside a lot. That's why I took him to the park. He loves the park. I came here today with him, but I can't seem to find him since you showed up. I was hoping we could play outside until everyone showed up, and we could talk some more about dogs."

"…"

"Aw man Shino, you're always so quiet. That's what makes you such a good listener. Sometimes I try to talk to Akamaru about dogs, but he just wanders away from me. Yesterday, when I was talking to him about dogs, he just came up to my foot and peed on me! I don't even know what that's about, and I know a lot about dogs. You know my family raises dogs…"

Behind a tree, the real Shino was sitting with Akamaru, praying for his team mates to arrive, and for the insects he used to substitute himself with to forgive him for what he had done.

"Please…save me. Why? That is because I am in need of saving."

Akamaru quietly yipped in agreement.

* * *

><p>"So you used a substitution. Good job. It's a wonder he didn't sniff you out." Kurenai crossed her arms, and showed the faint half smile that told her students she was joking.<p>

The Aburame continued staring off into the horizon. "He was…preoccupied with dogs."

Hinata chimed in, "Shino probably stayed down wind. -I mean, that's what I think he'd have done…"

She added, when she found her two team mates staring at her.

Kurenai lightly bit her lip.

"That trick doesn't always work." She hesitantly pushed the words out, and waited for her students to catch up. They didn't disappoint. Hinata perked up, and Shino's had jerked up toward his senior.

"Kurenai sensei, don't tell me…"

* * *

><p>Kurenai was walking slowly to the training field the team had agreed to meet in for that day's practice. She had planned to spend the morning having breakfast with Asuma, but he was running late when she called, and they had to cancel. She'd spent the rest of the morning distracted by her annoyance. How could a man make it to his position if he couldn't even get up on time? She almost didn't even see Kiba standing alone in the field. Almost.<p>

"Oh no…" Flashing behind a tree, she looked out to see Kiba turning in her direction, and pulled her head back, concealing her presence entirely. At least, until the wind changed direction.

"Hey! Hey!" Perhaps he was talking to Akamaru…

"Hey Kurenai! What are you doing behind that tree?"

She sighed, and moved out to face her student.

"Oh, well hello Kiba. I was testing your tracking abilities. You did a good job finding me, but know that a real opponent will do a much better job concealing themselves from you than I did this time."

"Oh that's nothing. I have a great nose. Heck, I could smell you a mile away."

"That's good, now-"

"You know why?"

"Yes, I know, it's because of your clan and their tech-"

"It's 'cuz of my clan, and their techniques. We're a lot like dogs. Dogs have great noses. You smell like cherry trees. Is that a perfume? Speaking of smells, the other day, I forgot to take a sandwich out of my bag, and it started to smell. Aw man! You better believe Akamaru let me have it. He was barking, and then all the other dogs started barking, and then my mom started barking at me, 'cuz she gets real mad, kinda like a dog. You know my family is a lot like dogs, it's because of my clan, and our techniques. Not my sister though, but she takes care of dogs. She likes dogs too. We have a lot of dogs at home. You know my family raises dogs…"

Standing in front of a catatonic Kiba, Kurenai released her handseal. "That ought to do until the others arrive." She crossed her arms, and let out a sigh. "I hope my other students don't catch me doing this. I wouldn't want them to think I'd do this to just anyone." She looked down at Akamaru. "I'm only doing this for my sanity. It's an exception. I can handle my students. You understand, right?"

Akamaru yipped in agreement.

* * *

><p>"Wouldn't he…notice?" Hinata asked.<p>

"He was only like that on the outside. In his reality, he was still talking about dogs." Her sensei answered matter of factly.

"And if he noticed you weren't talking ba-" This time Shino had garnered the stares of team mates.

"I apologize." He said, dropping the subject completely.

Kurenai rolled her eyes, resting them on her petite student. "I'm curious about something, Hinata. Have you ever been caught by him?"

"M-me? Well I…"

Hinata realized, from her years at the estate, that most Hyuga would use their visionary prowess to scout out their assigned meeting places at a distance, and decide, sometimes from home, when enough people showed up to warrant their own arrival. Hinata also realized, that she wasn't like most Hyuga. She enjoyed getting out of the house, and didn't ever mind waiting around for people. It had even become a habit of hers to arrive early, and take in a bit of peace before a mission. It was calming, and on sunny days like this, especially pleasant to enjoy a quiet morning thinking of her beloved...

"Hey! Hey!"

This was one was neither quiet nor beloved.

"Hey Hinata!"

"Oh, he-hello Kiba." She managed this sentence, and the realization of what her cousin meant when he said he spent his mornings "Watching out for Lee and Guy, and waiting for Tenten." every morning at the far corner of their estate.

"Haha, man, I didn't think I'd surprise you. You're family's always peeping around on people and stuff."

"Y-yeah." She stuttered, trying to ignore the voyeuristic accusations of Kiba's statement. "I don't really use my byakugan as much as the rest of them, but maybe, maybe I-"

"You know I've always got Akamaru looking out for me."

"Ah, I-I see."

"Yeah, we have all our dogs watching out for us. Sometimes, if they see something at night, they'll start barking real loud! It can be annoying, but man, I feel sorry for anyone who tries to break into my house! Oh, but not because of the dogs. I mean my mom. Man is she tough! She fights like a wild dog. In fact, she fights with dogs. I fight with dogs too, that's why I have Akamaru. Mom said, "He's your responsibility¸ and your ally." But he's just so cool. I love it when he transforms into me, and we fight together. It's like there's another me! Isn't that awesome!"

"T-two Kibas?" Kiba missed the fright in her voice, and the worry on her face.

"Yeah! Man, we're so strong. He fights like me, and I fight like him. It's 'cuz of my clan, and their techniques. We're a lot like dogs. Hey! Your clan fights a lot too right? Man, I bet you'd be a thousand times better if you guys got dogs. I really like dogs. I think everyone should get a dog. That way, we can all go to the park, and run around, and talk about dogs. I wonder where everyone is? I bet they're all buying dogs so we can train and fight together. "

"Will you spar with me?"

"Huh? You wanna fight with me Hinata?"

"N-no! Just a match. I-I mean, if you want to. I need to practice, a-and if you'd like, you were mentioning…"

"Ha ha! Yeah, I'll do it. You better watch out." He widened his arms, and surged with chakra. Hinata watched as his eyes turned to slits, and his fingernails to claws, as he let loose a feral howl. "AHWOOOO! Yeah! Alright Akamaru, I'm ready. Man, I'm sorry Hinata, but I ain't holding back."

Hinata flipped through her handseals, activating her byakugan. She took a moment to study his energy flow that coursed through his fingers and eyes, that catalyzed his doglike changes, and watched his vocal cords flex and tug and he continued talking.

"I bet you never saw anything like this. It's the power of the wild! WAHOO!"

Hinata instinctively relaxed her body, allowing her weight to drop into the earth, and her hands to float into their ready position while she continued to study him. Noticing the rhythm of every breathe he took, the expansion and contraction of his chest, his muscles, his lungs, the very air he drew and released, and finally, the points at with his chakra flow overlapped upon across his neural network.

"WAHOO! Alright yeah! Here I come Hinata!" He leapt at her, flying fast and large in a terrible arc, but not fast enough to catch Hinata off-guard. The moment he came into range, claws extended wide to grab and rip into her body, she spoke up.

"I can see!" Stepping towards him, she flowed under and around his lunge, and allowed her trailing fingers to dart into his vital point, the epicenter of all the activity she had been watching so closely, forcing it closed with a surge of chakra she unleashed into his system. His body crashed, and bowed against her counter, before it vaulted harmless below her in a crumpled heap.

The Hyuga took a deep breathe, and released it, allowing her eyes and posture to return to their natural states, before she'd realized what she'd done. "Kiba! A-are you okay?"

After a few moments of staring, he got up, and made a laughing motion, before waving his arms and the air, and opening and shutting his mouth repeatedly.

"Oh…uhm…don't worry! I-I must have….hit the point for your vocal cords….by mistake? You'll return to normal in a while…I-I think."

The girl walked away and slumped beside a tree near Kiba's dog. "You'll forgive me, right?"

Akamaru yipped in agreement.

* * *

><p>"Those two days of quiet were because of you!" her team mates shouted in unison.<p>

"Well I-he just…It wasn't permanent!" she defended, before adding a less incriminating, "A-and it was sort of an accident, I didn't mean to, it just…well…." She twitted her fingers like a child caught stealing from a cookie jar.

"Well could you accidently do it again?" Shino shot his teacher a glance. "Oh well it's better than grown ninja hiding from a boy and his dog every morning, isn't it?"

"I wasn't disagreeing."

At that moment, Kiba came tearing onto the scene. "YAHOO! Alright Akakamaru, we made it! Yeah! A hah, great job Akamaru." Kiba looked up at his team. "You guys won't believe what happened, I went to the park with Akamaru this morning, and there were a ton of dogs there! Not as many as at home, but wow! There were tons of people, and we shared all kind of stories about dogs. That's why I was late, but don't worry, I've got so much to talk to you guys about dogs, you won't believe it! Oh yeah, but what are we doing today? I wanna get it all done fast so we can have a whole day to talk about dogs!"

Hinata meekly raised her hand. "We de-decided on…sparring."

* * *

><p>By the way, if you don't have a sense of humor when it comes to Kiba, because he's you super favorite character or something, then you probably shouldn't have read this.<p>

...too late? You did? Sorry.

Feel free to review. It's a free country.


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